CardSystems Solutions

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CardSystems Solutions was a credit card processing company. [1] In June 2005, the fact that 40 million credit cards had been stolen from CardSystems was discovered. [2] [3] This led to the discoveries that CardSystems had been keeping data in unencrypted form that it was contractually obligated to delete, and that its own network was vulnerable to infiltration by hackers. [4] [5] [6] Visa and American Express subsequently dropped it as a credit card processing company. [7] [8] The data breach prompted controversy over regulation and triggered a federal investigation into the incident. [9] CardSystems was acquired by Pay By Touch. The buyout was completed on December 9, 2005. [10] All charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission against the company were settled in February 2006. [11] On March 19, 2008, Pay By Touch shut down.

At the time it was the largest computer hack in history. [12] [13] The hack would be surpassed by two different Albert Gonzalez hacks discovered in 2007 the 45.6 million cards hacked from TJX Companies, revealed in March, and the 130 million cards hacked from Heartland Payment Systems, revealed in July.

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References

  1. "CardSystems Solutions, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. writer, By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN/Money senior. "Breach affects 40M+ credit cards - Jul. 27, 2005". money.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.{{cite web}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Zeller, Tom Jr. (17 June 2005). "MasterCard Says Security Breach Affects 40 Million Cards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. "CardSystems Exposes 40 Million Identities - Schneier on Security". www.schneier.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. Dash, Eric (20 June 2005). "Lost Credit Data Improperly Kept, Company Admits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. "CardSystems' Data Left Unsecured". WIRED. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. Dash, Eric (19 July 2005). "Visa to Bar Transactions by Processor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. Dash, Eric (21 July 2005). "Chief of Card Processor Fires Back at Visa". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. Dash, Eric (8 July 2005). "CardSystems Sets Plan to Comply With Security Standards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  10. Dash, Eric (17 October 2005). "Card Center Hit by Thieves Agrees to Sale". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. "CardSystems Solutions Settles FTC Charges". Federal Trade Commission. 23 February 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. Dash, Eric; Zeller, Tom Jr. (18 June 2005). "MasterCard Says 40 Million Files Put at Risk". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. TJX data breach: At 45.6M card numbers, it's the biggest ever - Computerworld - March 29, 2007 Archived May 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine